Profile: Tazawa looks to be in good form after missing the 2010 season thanks to Tommy John surgery. He could rack up strikeouts and grab a few holds in the Red Sox pen, so feel free to snatch him up as reliever depth in dynasty formats. (Zach Sanders)

Profile: When Tazawa debuted in 2009 to the tune of a 7.46 ERA, it looked like the Red Sox had another bust on their hands, but the team remained patient with him, and were rewarded for that patience. This past season, Tazawa posted excellent numbers in a 44-inning campaign, with most of them coming in the second half after the team had faded into hilarity. However, that didn't stop the Red Sox from going out and acquiring two veterans for their 2013 'pen in Joel Hanrahan and Koji Uehara. With Andrew Bailey also expected to be healthy, Tazawa may not be given the chance to impact the Red Sox bullpen in high-leverage innings. Should he get the chance however, he should do so with aplomb. Even if he is not able to maintain the remarkable 2.9% walk rate that he posted last season, his strikeout-to-walk ratio should still be well above average. All told, Tazawa's 41 FIP- was the third-best mark in the majors among relievers who posted 40 or more innings last season. The two who did better? Craig Kimbrel and Aroldis Chapman. Reliever variance is always high, but Tazawa showed last season that he could be on the cusp of becoming one of the game's better relievers. (Paul Swydan)

The Quick Opinion: Tazawa was one of the few bright spots during Boston's second-half tour de sadness, but with Andrew Bailey expected to be healthy and Joel Hanrahan and Koji Uehara now in the fold, Tazawa will likely be relegated to situations that don't help your fantasy team.

Profile: Of all qualified relievers with at least 50 innings over the last two seasons, Koji Uehara blows the rest of baseball out of the water with 12 strikeouts per walk. However, you might be surprised by the pitcher hanging out in second place. Not Craig Kimbrel (third) or Mariano Rivera (fifth), but Boston's Junichi Tazawa. The Japanese import continued to be stingy in the walk department, only issuing 12 free passes to the 284 opposing hitters he faced. He continued to keep his elite strikeout rate north of 25% and was able to maintain his fastball velocity around 93 miles per hour. Tazawa was even Boston's closer for a brief period of time while Andrew Bailey was on the disabled list, but when Bailey came back and promptly re-injured himself, the Sox turned to the one reliever on the staff with more impressive rates (Uehara). Now with Uehara entrenched as Boston's closer headed in 2014, Tazawa will likely go back to a high-leverage setup role. He will re-assume a role as one of fantasy's most valuable middle relievers, though. He'll likely be neck-and-neck with Edward Mujica for Uehara handcuff status, but will also help immensely in ratio categories while contributing 70-80 strikeouts to a roto owner's ledger. Keep your ERA/WHIP clean by plucking guys like Tazawa up in the last round or two. (Colin Zarzycki)

The Quick Opinion: Junichi Tazawa's peripherals are eerily similar to Boston's other top Japanese reliever, Koji Uehara. While he doesn't have Uehara's closer gig (and the value that comes with it), he should continue to be one of baseball's more valuable middle relievers, and his rates are good enough that he's a useful late-round, plug-and-play reliever in standard leagues.

Profile: Typically one of baseball's premier strikeout-to-walk ratio relievers, Tazawa didn't quite finish as high on the leaderboard as he had done in the previous two seasons. That said, a small jump in walk rate and a slight downtick in punchouts didn't hurt his peripherals too much as evidenced by his 2.91 SIERA. His fastball velocity (93.9 mph) was actually the highest of his career, and he maintained his swinging strike rate well north of 11% for the third consecutive year. An Achilles' Heel in 2013, Tazawa managed to cut the gopherball rate by nearly half last season, although a few ill-timed moonshots a couple years back still have some questioning whether he has the "moxie" to close. Tazawa would likely be a more-than-adequate ninth inning guy if the call comes, but with Koji Uehara and Edward Mujica still under contract in 2015, he seems to be at least a few spots down the totem pole. Owners in deep leagues that need the help in WHIP and holds could find him useful, but it's tough to find enough elite value or upside to draft him in standard leagues. (Colin Zarzycki)

The Quick Opinion: While Tazawa's peripherals weren't quite as sparkling in 2014 as they were the previous two seasons, they weren't too far off either. At 28 and possessing his best fastball velocity ever, Tazawa projects to be a nice reliever to stream if you need holds and rates. However, even with an aging Koji Uehara, he's probably far enough away from Boston's ninth inning gig that he's not a great sleeper non-closer on draft day.

Profile: One of baseball's better (and under-the-radar) middle relievers, Tazawa had a 2015 season that was a large step back from his 2012-2014 seasons. With Koji Uehara nursing a variety of ailments (and Boston's season sunk early), Tazawa was given the intermittent chance to close games, making him a waiver wire darling a few times during the season. Unfortunately for both him and fantasy owners, he struggled to capitalize on the opportunities. His generally solid strikeout rate was down, and more troubling, cratered in the second half of the season (26% before the All Star break, 18% after). Due in large part to poor performance and the fact that the Red Sox were out of the race, he was finally shut down in September due to growing concerns over the number of innings he had amassed over the past few seasons. With the offseason addition of Craig Kimbrel to Boston's bullpen and Uehara heading into spring training healthy, Tazawa now gets bumped a couple more notches down the totem pole, and will likely fight Carson Smith for hold opportunities in the sixth and seventh innings. If he can prove that late 2015 was a fatigue problem, he could bounce back to holding relevance in deeper mixed or AL-only leagues for rates and holds, although those who speculated heavily on him last year when looking for second-chair closers can probably turn their attention elsewhere in 2016. (Colin Zarzycki)

The Quick Opinion: Given some save opportunities during Boston's lost 2015, Junichi Tazawa struggled with both stuff and command, particularly late in the season. With a lower-leverage role in Boston's revamped bullpen, he offers far less upside in the saves department, but could remain a useful pitcher in leagues counting holds if he can prove that his ailments were only fatigue related.

Profile: Tazawa's career 4.34 strikeout-to-walk ratio (K/BB) ranks in the top 5% of all pitchers since his debut (min. 300 innings). Most pitchers with his skill set — think Kenley Jansen, Masahiro Tanaka, Chris Sale, Stephen Strasburg, Corey Kluber, Matt Harvey... — succeed with that level of base runner suppression. Indeed, Tazawa excelled for a few years until consecutive rocky seasons concluded his Red Sox tenure. A poor strand rate in 2015 and an inflated home run-to fly-ball rate in 2016 pushed his ERA north of 4.00 each season. Those numbers didn't scare away the Marlins, as his peripheral metrics, like his K/BB, have remained consistent. He actually relied more than ever on his off-speed stuff, an adjustment that could help him stave off the impending gloom of being 30-plus. Tazawa figures to slot into a middle-relief role in front of A.J. Ramos and/or Brad Ziegler and/or Kyle Barraclough. (Even the seemingly revitalized David Phelps could eventually be a preferred late-inning option, depending on how things shake out midseason.) He once looked like a decent speculative pick as Ramos' "handcuff," but the offseason signing of Ziegler clouds Tazawa's prospects of producing any meaningful value in 2016. He's not worth your attention. (Alex Chamberlain)

The Quick Opinion: With a couple of years of bad luck behind him, Tazawa could return to his typically admirable performance, albeit in middle relief. Several other relievers could be favored over him as insurance to A.J. Ramos, rendering Tazawa all but useless in most fantasy formats.